Democrats ‘08:  A Winning Strategy?

28 January 2005 |permalink | email article

The good news for Democrats is that in 2008, for the first time since before Dwight D. Eisehower entered the presidential race in 1952, neither party has an obvious heir to the White House. The bad news is that it is badly split between adherents identified with the centrist wing and others allied with MoveOn.org, the liberal online advocacy group. The initial test comes Feb. 12 when 447 members of the Democratic National Committee meet in Washington to elect a new party chairman. The outcome shapes up as less of an ideological test and more about finding a skilled leader with the moxie to overcome the strategic and tactical advantages employed by the Republican National Committee in 2000 and 2004 election wins.

Seven candidates are vying for the post. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, a liberal, is the perceived frontrunner. Others in the race include Simon Rosenberg, the head of the moderate New Democratic Network; former Reps. Martin Frost of Texas and Tim Roemer of Indiana; former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb; party strategist Donnie Fowler, and Ohio party chairman David Leland. The first test of strength comes this Sunday in New York City when the last of four regional forums for state party activists to interview the candidates are completed. California Democratic Chairman Art Torres said that after the weekend meeting about two-thirds of the state party chairs plan to endorse a single candidate.

The most interesting new development was the announcement by MoveOn that it is moving into the fight for DNC chair with a plan for state-by-state endorsements from its nearly 3 million members. Dean, who finished first in a 2003 straw poll of its members during his losing bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, is perceived to benefit the most. Founded to protest the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998, the move confirms the attempt by MoveOn to bolster its influence within the party. In 2004, it demonstrated an enormous grass-roots reach, organizing thousands of house parties, and recruiting large numbers of volunteers for targeted get-out-the vote efforts. MoveOn fell just short of matching the GOP’s massive “family values” crusade for Bush.

Mike McCurry, a Democratic strategist and former Clinton White House spokesman, aptly told The New York Times this month that at the end of the day, the party won’t reject Dean because he’ll take the party too far to the left. “They’ll reject Dean if they don’t think he’ll be about party building or remaking the institution.” There is a belief among many anti-Dean Democrats that he is too polarizing to put his ego aside. Rhetoric alone will not save the party opposite.

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